Bethany and Matthew Williams are co-founders of Exile International, a ministry dedicated to empowering rescued child soldiers & children orphaned by wars in Uganda and D.R. Congo to become leaders for peace through art-focused trauma care & holistic rehabilitation.
In other words, child orphans and prisoners of war learn to lean on Jesus, overcome the most severe PTSD, and become leaders for peace, all through the power of their own story.
In this post, we’ll expand on our recent podcast interview with Bethany and Matthew to explain the miraculous power of story to heal even the most horrific trauma. We’ll also use examples from the Bible to reveal the secret of why giving survivors the opportunity to share their story helps give a voice to the voiceless.
Voiceless Children
The kids in Exile’s programs have been abducted, assaulted, tortured, and starved. They’ve been forced to become soldiers of war, and to watch their loved ones die horrific deaths—sometimes at their own hand. Many of the children have no idea that anyone in the world even knows there is a war going on, and they certainly can’t imagine that anyone cares about what is happening to them in the middle of the war.
As Matthew explained, “War and violence and trauma steals so many things from individuals, so they’ve learned, ‘I don’t matter, my voice doesn’t matter’ … Trauma steals our power and our voice.” During the formative years of their lives, these children learn life is full of horror, they don’t matter, and no one cares. They have no security, no voice, and no one to care for them, so they believe they have no hope and no future.
The Voiceless of the Bible
Many of the Bible’s vulnerable characters felt the same way. For example, Hagar, the woman at the well, and the woman with the bleeding issue were used, misunderstood, abused, ignored, dismissed, and alone. Like many women at that time, they were voiceless. They were outcasts with no one to care for them and no hope for a future.
But with Jesus, there is always hope, so we follow examples from Scripture.
Giving the Children Their Voice Back
Missionaries at Exile are trained in the highly acclaimed EMPOWER Trauma Rehabilitation Program, a unique method of trauma healing that unites proven mental health practices and engagement with God through the Bible. The children are encouraged to process their trauma through story, art, song, writing, games and other activities, and leave their pain and trauma at the cross where they will find restoration.
In other words, the children are healed through telling and sharing their own story. Does this sound familiar? It should if you’ve taken any of our storytelling courses or listened to any of our storytelling podcast episodes. We’ve talked about Dr. Curt Thompson’s research a handful of times. Remember what Dr. Thompson says, “The process of reflecting on and telling others your story, and the way you experience others hearing it, actually shapes the story and the very neural networks it represents.” In other words, sharing our story literally heals us, and that’s what these kids are experiencing.
You may think the children would resist the painful process, but Bethany explained how the kids seem to instinctively know their own story has the power to heal them. “The kids really, really, really want their stories to be told. That’s one thing that I’ve learned from the very beginning is that when we ask the kids if they want their story to be told, about ninety percent of our kids are like, ‘Yes! Tell my story of survival. Tell the world what God did and how he saved me.’”
Bethany shared that one way the children express and share their experience is by “drawing their stories of heartache, hopes, and dreams on a handkerchief because a handkerchief represents capturing our tears. Then we ask them, ‘Do you want to keep the handkerchief? Or do you want to send it back with us as a story piece so that we can let the world know what’s going on with the war?’ And ninety percent of them are like, ‘Please take it.’ We often mark the names out, but it’s a way for their story to be told.”
Matthew has also seen how most of the children embrace the opportunity to be heard. “I remember having that conversation with kids during my first year at Exile, and seeing the light come to their face of like, ‘What? You want to share my story? You want to hear my story?’ But I think about how that taps in for each of us. We want to be understood, we want to be known.”
One of Matthew’s favorite activities is when a child agrees to share their story as a video online. He described their amazement when the kids see their own story and notice how many people are watching it. “Then they know, ‘Wow! This is my story and people are watching this!’ Their stories are getting out there and are being shared in a way that’s honoring to them. So then to share their story is to give them their voice back. And that is powerful.”
The God Who Shares His Voice
Scripture shows us the power of our story to heal. When “the God who sees me” saw Hagar in the desert, He gave her hope and a future that all things would work out for good. When the same God made flesh met the woman at the well, He saw her greatest need was to feel that she mattered. He loved her enough to meet her in the desert to share a story of salvation with an outcast. Even when the reluctant woman with the bleeding issue was forced to speak, she learned that her story of faith had the power to heal.
God empowered these women the moment their story became part of His. By giving them a voice entwined with His voice, the women learned they matter. Their stories of hurt and shame turned into hope for a future.
The Healing Power of Story
Children who go through Exile’s program move on with their lives, sharing their story of pain and of healing through Christ. They become empowered leaders of peace as their story gives a voice to the voiceless, and healing to the hopeless.
I believe Bethany speaks for all Exile survivors in this quote.
“There are so many broken people. We all have our secrets, and we all have trauma, and we all have woundedness. It’s so cool when people hear and read the kids’ stories and the depth of redemption that God has given them. I’ve heard so many times, that people think, ‘If those kids can survive, being forced to kill someone, or those kids can survive, being captive in the bush, or being orphans on the street, and look what God’s doing with their lives, then it gives me hope for what God can do with my pain, and my woundedness.’ It’s like the kids in our program are teaching our Western friends about survival and redemption, and it’s really cool to see.”
God Still Hears
While we don’t know what happened to the woman with the bleeding issue, we know Hagar became the mother of a nation, and the woman at the well told her story to evangelize an entire community.
It’s intriguing that we never learn the names of the woman at the well or the woman with the issue of bleeding. I believe God wanted it that way, because, as Bethany said, we are all the woman at the well. We all feel alone, dismissed, abused, and ashamed sometimes. We all feel voiceless.
God made the entire universe with His word. Since we are made in His image, doesn’t it make sense that our voice is important to our well-being? Friends, God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Their story—His story—is our story, and it’s a privilege to be loved enough to have our story as part of His.
No matter where life finds you today, please know that Hagar’s El Roy sees you. He hears you. Matthew wants everyone to know that true healing is possible through Christ. So, if you’re feeling invisible, call out to Him, knowing that no matter where you are, He’s right there with you, because He’s still the God who sees.
